This blog provides delicious,traditional, vegetarian, South Indian Recipes from my mother Chitra Amma's kitchen. There are few 'world recipes' as well!
Thanks to Shravan, Pranav, Akash, Tara, Guggs, Shankari, Adu and Appa Ramachandran for the photos!

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Monday, March 28, 2016

TOMATO OGARE Among the various kinds of variety rice preparations(Chitraanna), Tomato Rice is the easiest to make. It is often served in South Indian Thali Meals along with numerous other dishes.Tomato Ogare is a variation where tomato gojju is cooked with a flavoursome blend of spices and mixed with rice making it more spicy, flavoursome and festive.

1. Heat oil in a kadai and add the mustard seeds.3. When the mustard splutters add the ground nuts and fry till they crack.4. Add curry leaves and asafoetida followed by the finely chopped tomatoes.5. Stir in turmeric powder, salt and jaggery powder.6. Cover and cook on low flame, stirring now and then till the tomato becomes mushy and the oil separates.7. Mix in the prepared spice powders and switch off flame.Now the Tomato Gojju is ready to use.TO MAKE TOMATO OGARE

1. Take one cup of cooked rice in a wide bowl and break up the lumps if any.2. Add one spoon of sesame oil to the rice and mix well so that each grain is coated with oil. This step prevents the rice from clumping.3. Add 3 or 4 table spoons ( or as per taste) of the prepared Tomato Gojju and mix evenly with the rice using a spatula.

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Karuveppilai / Karibevu / Curry leaf is an indispensable herb used extensively in South Indian cooking. It is used to season or garnish almost all the dishes prepared every day. Karuveppilai is used as a home medicine for colds, loss of appetite, indigestion or biliousness. According to Ayurveda Karuveppilai is a blood purifier and helps in preventing anemia. It helps in maintaining the healthy functioning of almost all the organs like pancreas, liver and kidney. Eating a fistful of curry leaves on an empty stomach every morning assures one of a disease free life. Most people discard Karuveppilai seasoning while eating a meal, without caring for its abundant health benefits.The best option to utilize and enjoy all the health benefits offered by this flavoursome and humble Karuveppilai is to include a liberal quantity of Kariveppilai Chutney in your meals as often as possible.

INGREDIENTS

Curry leaves (separated from stalk) - 2 tightly packed cups

Pepper - 1/4 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp

Bengal gram dal - 1tbsp

Black gram dal - 1 tsp

Asafoetida - 1 pinch

Red chillies ( broken)- 2

Tamarind - a plum size ball

Salt - 3/4 tsp

Sesame oil - 1 1/2 tsps

METHOD

1. Separate the Karuveppilai or Curry leaves from the stalk and wash thoroughly.

5. When the chillies turn crisp add the washed and well drained Karuveppilai and stir till the leaves wilt.

6. Shred the tamarind and add it to the roasted ingredients and switch off flame.The heat in the pan will soften the tamarind.

7. Allow to cool and then grind all the ingredients with salt to a coarse powder.

8. Add water little by little to the coarse powder and grind smoothly into a fairly thick Chutney.

Enjoy the flavoursome and delicious Karuveppilai Chutney mashed with steaming hot rice and a spoon of ghee.

Chutney rice can also be prepared and served as a fancy Variety Rice (Kalanda Sadam). Fluff up two cups of cooked rice in a bowl. Add two pinches of turmeric on top. Heat two spoons of ghee and pour the hot ghee on top of the turmeric powder. Mix well so that each rice is coated with turmeric powder and ghee. Add a spoon or more of Karuveppilai Chutney (depending on your taste) and mix well without mashing the rice. Enjoy the Karuveppilai Chutney rice with Papad or any Raita of your choice.

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Hello

Welcome to Chitra Amma's Kitchen.

I am Dibs. I am a born Foodie. I love to cook; love to eat; love to feed folks who appreciate good food. Blogging provides me a great way of documenting my mother, Chitra’s recipes, as a ready reference irrespective which time zone I live in. Amma honestly makes the best food I've ever had, and somehow, the anecdotes she tells us, make the dishes taste all the better.Most posts here are written by my mother Chitra. It’s her recipes, along with related reminiscences of people, places and anecdotes. She writes, I post!What started for a lark, has now become a serious hobby, drawing in participation from the whole family. My father, S.R. Ramachandran has started clicking away every dish made at home! Aunts, cousins, siblings, contribute to photos, and ask for recipes.We try to illustrate implements such as utensils, grinding stones and so on from the ‘pre-electric-mixer’ days wherever possible. We hope this will make an interesting read for future generations, on how food was cooked in earlier times!The site is still in its infancy, and slowly evolving, as our skills improve! We invite your comments, ideas, and questions, and will attempt answering them.

Thank you for your visit, and we hope you enjoy your stay at Chitra Amma’s Kitchen.